Hilton has once again cemented its position as a leader in workplace excellence, earning the prestigious title of Asia’s top-ranking hospitality workplace by Great Place to Work – for the eighth consecutive year. This recognition comes at a time when the hospitality industry across Asia Pacific faces significant challenges, including talent shortages, rising wage demands, and the growing need for flexible work environments.
Despite these hurdles, Hilton has not only maintained but strengthened its reputation as an employer of choice, securing top rankings in Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and India. This achievement reflects Hilton’s unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive, people-first culture that attracts and retains top talent while continuously innovating to meet the evolving demands of the job market.
In this exclusive conversation, Patsy Ng, Senior Vice President for Human Resources – Asia Pacific at Hilton, shares insights into the company’s award-winning workplace strategies, including its forward-thinking approach to employee engagement, and how Hilton continues to set new benchmarks in hospitality employment.
The hospitality industry across APAC is facing significant talent shortages. What specific challenges has Hilton encountered in this region, particularly after the reopening of borders? What strategies are in place to upskill current employees and ensure that Hilton’s workforce remains competitive and adaptable?
The re-opening of borders has driven rapid recovery in Asia Pacific’s travel industry, sparking renewed growth in the hospitality sector. However, attracting and retaining talent remains challenging due to evolving expectations around work-life balance and outdated perceptions of hotel work.
This challenge is especially pressing in hospitality due to the 24/7 nature of hotel operations, as evolving expectations around work-life balance make many reluctant to commit to shift-based roles. Additionally, outdated perceptions about hotel work – such as limited career growth, long hours, low pay, and minimal flexibility – continue to affect the sector. Shifting these perceptions is crucial to making hospitality careers more appealing and sustainable for today’s workforce.
At Hilton, we are reshaping these perceptions by creating multi-skilled roles that offer better job satisfaction and competitive pay. These changes enable rewarding careers that offer flexibility, foster inclusion, and prioritize both mental and physical wellbeing; as well as a workplace where every Team Member feels genuinely valued and supported.
Our ‘Every Job Makes The Stay’ recruitment campaign reinforces this message. It captures the intrinsic value of hospitality roles and the unique experiences they bring to life. By showcasing the richness of these roles—from our front-of-house ‘Chief Welcome Officers’ to our heart-of-house ‘Ultimate Stay Creators’— we celebrate the distinct career opportunities that make hospitality a fulfilling industry.
Advanced tools like AI-powered fit assessments and same-day hiring, demonstrate our commitment to creating a digital-first recruitment powerhouse and transforming the recruitment process. By leveraging fully automated, AI-enhanced end-to-end processes, we boost productivity for hiring managers and recruiters while delivering a seamless, engaging, and mobile-enabled experience for candidates.
In select markets, we are piloting an AI-powered smart scheduling system for centralized rostering, allowing us to better balance business needs with the individual preferences of our Team Members.
By embracing flexibility, we’re opening up opportunities in hospitality for underrepresented groups, such as caregivers, people with disabilities, youth, and mature workers who benefit from flexible hours or shorter shifts. Hilton became the first international hotel company to offer flexible employment through our GIG initiative. Launched in China and Japan, this initiative enhances operational efficiency by extending career opportunities to the growing gig workforce. So far, this initiative has supported over 17,000 gig workers who have completed over 300,000 shifts across 100 cities.
Our approach to addressing talent challenges goes beyond our daily operations. As workers increasingly seek more opportunities for upskilling and continuous learning opportunities, Hilton is dedicated to creating workplaces where Team Members can thrive throughout their careers with us.
Hilton has been recognized for the eighth time as Asia’s top-ranking hospitality workplace by Great Place to Work. What key elements of Hilton’s culture have contributed to this recognition?
Hilton’s recognition as Asia’s top-ranking hospitality workplace by Great Place to Work for eight consecutive years is a testament to our resilient, century-old purpose-driven culture that emphasizes well-being, growth, and inclusivity. We are a business about people serving people, where exceptional guest service can only be delivered by highly engaged team members who serve from the heart.
Through our global employer proposition, Thrive@Hilton, and other industry-leading programs, we support our Team Members to excel – no matter their background, role, or location. By creating inclusive environments with tech-enabled programs that support well-being, lifelong learning, and career growth, we deliver a fully human experience that empowers Team Members to thrive in body, mind, and spirit while uniting everyone under a shared purpose.
To support our Team Members’ well-being and career growth, we offer initiatives like Care For All and Hospitality Foundations as part of Thrive@Hilton. Care For All expands our focus on mental wellness by offering resources and eCourses that help Team Members and their loved ones manage self-care and caregiving responsibilities. On the career growth front, Hospitality Foundations provides accessible, on-demand digital training that equips every Team Member with essential skills, available directly on their mobile devices. These programs provide holistic support that ensures all Team Members can flourish both personally and professionally, regardless of their individual roles or where they are on their career journey.
Globally, Hilton was named the #1 World’s Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work in 2023—the first hospitality company to achieve this title. This recognition reflects our strong workplace culture, with 95% of our employees across APAC stating in our Global Team Member Survey that they view Hilton as a great place to work and would recommend it to others. As the region’s fastest-growing hospitality company, our inclusive culture remains vital to attracting and retaining top talent, helping us build a strong talent pipeline to meet the growing demand for travel.
Hilton places significant emphasis on inclusivity. How does the company ensure that its policies are inclusive across different cultures and regions in Asia-Pacific?
With a workforce of 90,000 Team Members across Asia Pacific, representing 80 nationalities, Hilton celebrates a rich blend of cultures, experiences, and generations. This diversity is at the heart of our success in the region, allowing us to build teams that are as vibrant and dynamic as the guests we serve. We are dedicated to creating workplaces where inclusivity is embraced as one of our greatest strengths.
Our commitment to inclusive policies begins with our hiring practices. We are mindful of addressing unconscious bias in talent selection through mandatory training for both leaders and Team Members. We also use advanced hiring assessments to take a holistic approach, so that we welcome diverse talent at every level.
Building on our inclusive hiring practices, we further strengthen our commitment to diversity through Team Member Resource Groups (TMRGs), which enrich our culture by promoting wellness, development, and diversity. In Asia Pacific, our Women’s, Pride, Generations, and Abilities TMRGs play a vital role in shaping inclusive policies, creating supportive environments and promoting allyship. Our recently launched Generations and Abilities TMRGs have quickly become key drivers of inclusivity within Hilton, uniting perspectives across different generations and cultivating a workplace where everyone feels seen, supported and empowered to thrive. Developing diverse leaders is also a central focus, and we do so through initiatives like Lead@Hilton, and our SHINE program, which equip emerging young leaders with the skills they need to succeed. Our dedication to inclusion and diversity is embedded throughout our training curriculum, as reflected in the newly launched People Leader Essentials Hub in APAC—a learning platform offering key leadership topics to support internal talent as they grow into leadership roles. Reflecting this focus, we’re proud that women currently represent 50% of our Asia Pacific Executive Team, and we are well-poised to achieve our goal of reaching 25% female General Managers in the region by 2027.
Looking ahead, how do you see the hospitality workforce in Asia-Pacific evolving over the next few years?
At Hilton, we envision an inclusive workplace that continues to welcome people from all backgrounds. This includes increasing workplace flexibility to open up career opportunities for individuals with unique preferences and commitments.
Equally exciting are the ways technology can elevate the hospitality industry while staying true to its core of people serving people. Although technology cannot replace this essential human connection, it can enhance how we engage with both our Team Members and our guests. Embracing a digital-first culture, integrating AI, and investing in tech tools and skills training, will strengthen our ability to attract and retain talent, as the talents of tomorrow will seek work that resonates with their lifestyles—valuing flexibility and experiences that align with their personal and professional goals. It will be essential for companies to consider the integration of “phygital” experiences for both candidates and employees, aligning with the fast pace of business while ensuring meaningful interactions with customers. Through predictive analytics and other innovations, we empower our HR leaders to anticipate workforce needs and support our teams with the skills to thrive, ensuring we continue to deliver warm, personalized experiences that define our signature hospitality
